Masses of protesters with white shirts, homemade gas masks and flags draped around their shoulders shut down a main road in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in a continuation of near-daily street protests.

Soldiers closed access to the centre of the city and officials closed at least 10 metro stations in anticipation of Saturday’s protest, which was part of demonstrations across the country by hundreds of thousands of people. The protests marked 50 days of protests against the government of President Nicolás Maduro, with unrest gaining momentum despite a rising death toll and chaotic scenes of night-time looting.

State security forces have consistently prevented protesters from reaching the city centre, home to the presidential palace, supreme court and electoral authority.

At least 46 people have been killed in the worst turmoil faced by Maduro since he won the presidency in 2013. Venezuelans from civilians to police have been killed, sometimes during increasingly frequent spates of looting or street melees.

President Maduro, meanwhile, has been posting videos of himself driving with windows rolled down through various neighbourhoods at night as he talks about restoring peace to the country. On Friday night, he drove past a plaza in the eastern part of the city that has become the centre of the opposition movement and noted how quiet the streets were. “Look at how peaceful it is here. We’re defeating the barricade-builders and violence-bringers,” he said.

Many Venezuelans are furious with Maduro’s government, blaming it for soaring inflation, shortages of everything from food to medicine and a crackdown on human rights. They are demanding elections, freedom for jailed activists, foreign aid and autonomy for the opposition-led legislature.

On Saturday, protesters in Caracas brandished placards that read “No more dictatorship in Venezuela” while in the volatile border city of San Cristobal masked youths threw rocks, and a Reuters witness saw two protesters wielding machetes.

The Andean area near Colombia suffered a week of mayhem that included looting, prompting the government to send in 2,000 troops.

“We don’t want more deaths. We want salaries that mean something and medicines. The government invests more in bullets and weapons than in food and education for this country,” said Maria Diaz, a 33-year-old lawyer standing in the torrential rain in front of security forces with some 8,000 other protesters in San Cristobal.

Opposition protesters say the government is trying to maintain its grip on power despite the economic crisis. More than 2,600 protesters have been arrested across the country, more than a third of whom remain detained, according to a local rights group.

Opposition supporters at a rally against President Maduro in Caracas on Saturday. Photograph: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

The government, which says protesters are trying to foment a coup beneath pro-democracy rhetoric, held a counter-march in Caracas, with thousands of red-clad supporters singing and dancing. Officials frequently appear on state television with photos of vandalised stores and blocked roads that they blame on the opposition.

Venezuelan government sends troops to border state to stop looting and violence

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In recent weeks, protesters have thrown everything from excrement to petrol bombs at security forces, who have used tear gas and rubber bullets to block marches. Opposition lawmakers have joined protesters, often facing tear gas themselves. Two-time presidential candidate and de facto opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, led the Caracas march.

“Fifty days and they’ve assassinated 50 people. Despite everything, on day 50, amid more repression, there is more resistance and more fight for Venezuela,” said Capriles, surrounded by supporters.

He was recently barred from holding public office for 15 years and said this week that his passport was confiscated before a flight to New York, where he was set to visit the United Nations and denounce human rights violations.

On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on the chief judge and seven other members of Venezuela’s supreme court and President Donald Trump described Venezuela’s humanitarian situation as “a disgrace to humanity”. Maduro responded by telling Trump to stop meddling in Venezuela’s affairs.